Saturday, December 2, 2017

Christmas Story Part 1: "To Cause To Be"


And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Luke 2:1-3
It came to pass: "to cause to be"
Went out: 
to be made known, declared

Decree: ordinance; public law
Caesar Augustus: a title of the Roman emperor
World: equivalent to the Roman empire
Registered: to enter in the public records the names of men, their property, and income, to enroll

Census: an enrollment; by implication, an assessment- a taxing
took place: to be made, done, finished; to be established, enacted; implying a certain action
Quirinius: Roman governor of Syria
Governing: to be/act as governor of a province

Went: to pursue the journey (with a purpose) on which one has entered
Registered: tax, enroll
Everyone: when it denotes individually, every one of many

To cause to be.
I'm sure that everyone did not like the inconvenience of traveling and the idea of registering to be taxed. Yet, there was a divine purpose for that inconvenience — God's Word had to be fulfilled. Mary and Joseph had to be in Bethlehem so that Christ would be born as was told in Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”
To cause to be. 
Looking back on my life, I see times when I was required to do something, that I didn't particularly like at that time. However, now I can see the reasons and have a greater understanding of why God did what He did. 

To cause to be. 
God does have control and does people to accomplish His will. Yet, we also are given a choice to accept God as our Lord and Savior or not. 

God's gift of Salvation is free.
God's gift of Salvation is available. 
God's gift of Salvation has an eternal warranty! 
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16